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Creativity in Art Therapy

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Exploring the Benefits of
Creativity in Education,
Media, and the Arts

Nava R. Silton
Marymount Manhattan College, USA

A volume in the Advances in Media,

Entertainment, and the Arts (AMEA) Book Series
Published in the United States of America by
Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global)
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Names: Silton, Nava R., 1981- editor.
Title: Exploring the benefits of creativity in education, media, and the arts
/ Nava Silton, editor.
Description: Hershey, PA : Information Science Reference, [2017] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016012761| ISBN 9781522505044 (hardcover) | ISBN
9781522505051 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Creative thinking. | Creative ability.
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 327

Chapter 15
Creativity in Art Therapy
Rachel Brandoff
Marymount Manhattan College, USA

ABSTRACT
Art therapists help to access and awaken their clients’ personal, latent creativity by promoting art mak-
ing by the client (Snyder, 1997). Art Therapists aid clients by re-establishing creative thought and flow.
They encourage the use of art materials, assist with the engagement in the art-making processes, and
facilitate reflection on art made in the context of psychotherapy (Lombardi, 2014). Exercising creativ-
ity in therapy is an effective way to develop problem-solving and original thinking approaches, and it
ultimately enables clients to generalize these skills towards other areas of life (Lowenfeld & Brittain,
1987). It is not uncommon for people to lose touch with creativity as a result of coping with life stress-
ors, transitions or trauma. Through engagement with art making in art therapy, clients can potentially
address psychological blockages that might inhibit or prevent access to creative thinking.

INTRODUCTION

Art therapists help clients activate their creativity in ways which may provide a catalyst toward reaching
desired changes in thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and/or life circumstances. Art therapists encourage the
creative process in session and use creative products made in session for reflection, insight, and to fa-
cilitate greater awareness (Lombardi, 2014). Art therapy may include simple or complex directives from
the therapist or an open and non-directed art making format. Art therapists might present a client with
familiar materials or ones that offer new challenges and involve a learning curve, as well as opportunities
for mastery and risk-taking. These variations may be adjusted based on the specific issues that the client
is facing or addressing. Creativity can be born out of interactions with any art material or directive. An
art therapist will consider her client’s need so that she can best direct the client to materials that might
facilitate maximum engagement, curiosity, and potential.
In art therapy, clients can use the art making process to learn about him/herself. Art therapists help
guide clients to acknowledge, understand, and accept themselves as much as possible, and this can be
achieved with the help of image-making (Rubin, 2010). This is particularly challenging in clients with a
history of trauma or in situations where clients have reaped some benefit from denying their own reality.

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0504-4.ch015

Copyright © 2017, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
 
Creativity in Art Therapy

Using image-making to tap into the unconscious can help clients break maladaptive patterns of thoughts,
feelings, and behavior which may be holding them back (Jung, 1961). Image-making can be a valuable
and effective tool for personal development (Wadeson, 1985).
Art therapists know that supporting and engaging the exercise of creativity can be a safe process that
accommodates a need for construction and destruction. Many authors have documented the capacity
of creative art making as a means to improve memory, focus one’s attention, practice decision making
and problem solve (Moon, 2008; Riley, 2004; Rubin, 2010), increase self-esteem and build confidence
(Rubin, 2010). Art making also allows for the release of emotions that may have been suppressed or are
too complicated to express (Cohen & Cox, 1995; Moon, 2008).
Occasionally people seem to give up on creative endeavors in the face of perceived failure. Perhaps
the outcome of an art project does not mirror the artist’s intention nor does it get completed according
to his/ her plan. Perhaps there is a comparative element whereby the artist does not view the fruits of
his/her creative labor to be as successful as that of another artist’s work. The tendency to compare and
contrast can be both natural and also self-esteem crushing. Art therapy is a forum for working through
these creative endeavors which would otherwise become perceived failures. Art made during therapy
can frequently be engineered on a small and manageable scale. Additionally, within the context of art
making, as in life, things often do not go according to plan. This reality forces an artist to call upon an
inner resiliency to overcome obstacles. For clients in art therapy, the art therapist is available to assist
with this process. The art therapist assists on a practical level, brainstorming possible choices and solu-
tions, and also cognitively works through the process of transforming what feels intolerable.
Exercises in creativity are often rife with conflict and sometimes failure. Handling these experiences
appropriately in therapy can allow clients to confront unrealistic expectations and to learn to make allow-
ances that permit a more human experience. Learning to cope with negative and undesirable experiences
in life can be an important part of living a full and successful life.
Gladding (1995) writes about setting up the therapeutic space to encourage creativity yet making
therapy sessions feel more like play than work. This is often a great benefit in art therapy; clients can
engage in learning and growth in the context of having fun. Clients are often attracted to and engaged
by creative arts activities, and art directives can be perceived as less threatening and more fun than talk
therapy. Although challenging, painful, and intense experiences can be addressed in therapy, a creative
environment can lessen the fear of the hard work that therapy often necessitates.

BLOCKS TO CREATIVITY

There are many blocks to creativity and art therapists should examine and identify what kind of blocks a
client may be experiencing. These blocks take many forms, including the fear of failure, excessive focus
on tradition, inability to recognize strengths, inflexibility or rigidity, fear of taking control or of exert-
ing influence, over-seriousness or lack of humor and the inability to imagine or fantasize. Sometimes a
creative block might suggest a person’s tendency towards an over-analysis of circumstances or towards
drawing conclusions prematurely.
Unblocking creativity involves a period of practice as when one works a new muscle. In addition
to art-making initiatives in therapy sessions, some art therapists also offer their clients homework. In
art therapy however, homework is suggested and not mandated with the same intensity that it might be
assigned in school. The intention behind homework or home-based assignments is to extend the cli-

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ent’s creative practice in therapy beyond the session. Homework may take on the moniker of family fun
night, marital dates or silly art making. These assignments provide opportunities to practice and act out
the world that initially might take place in session but that continues beyond the therapy room (Carson,
1999). While some clients may not be willing to engage in home-based assignments, many welcome
the chance to integrate what they learn in therapy into other contexts in life. The use of homework in
therapy is dictated to some degree by the client’s situation or the perspective of the therapist, and certainly
homework in therapy is not the domain of art therapy exclusively. However “homework” can offer the
opportunity to remember, experiment and practice with new skills to develop insight in real life situations.

THEORY OF CREATIVITY IN ART THERAPY

Psychologists Carl Rogers (1961) and Abraham Maslow (1971) believed that creativity was a universal
human attribute. Many of the theoretical approaches to creativity in art therapy build on the work of
these two men. Maslow (1971) suggested that creativity was readily accessible in children and that many
adults seem to have lost it, but “If you dig into the unconscious layer of the person, you find it there”
(Maslow, 1971, p. 80). Rogers (1961) theorized that providing a client with unconditional acceptance,
freedom from external judgment, and empathy were ideal conditions for fostering creativity. He felt that
a non-defensive approach to creating, where one is open to new experiences, was most optimal, and
would give the clients permission to freely express themselves and thereby realize their creative potential
(Rogers, 1961). These goals pursued in Rogerian psychotherapy through verbal techniques, are often
pursued in art therapy where clients explore an artistic freedom of expression. From the humanistic
perspective, creativity is an integral part of therapy since the process of change pursued in therapy is a
product of both risk taking and creative acts (Carson, 1999). Approaches in therapy that promote good
mental health often mimic the activities which are typical of highly creative individuals (Carson, 1999;
Maslow, 1971; Rogers, 1961).
Natalie Rogers, an expressive arts therapist (and the daughter of Carl Rogers), helped to develop a
fuller understanding of her father’s theory of creativity as well as its applications. Natalie Rogers grew
up with her father’s positive, humanistic values in a loving and supportive environment. She studied
psychotherapy and the arts in her own right and in 1974 initiated Person-Centered Approach workshops,
where she worked collegially with her father for many years (Merry, 1997). Person-centered expressive
arts therapy is the process of using the arts as a healing tool for self-exploration and understanding (Merry,
1997; Rogers, 1993). Expressive therapies draw on the use of the arts in non-verbal and metaphorical
ways, although many art therapists also include verbal communication in their sessions.
In discussing family therapy, Carson (1999) discusses specific therapeutic approaches and techniques
which focus on creative thinking and skill building. He describes narrative therapy, internal family
systems therapy, solution-focused therapy, strategic family play and rational-emotive family therapy.
Carson (1999) alludes to techniques used in psychodrama, and mentions the use of experiential therapy
to facilitate creative experiences for clients; He uses the umbrella term of creative techniques to use
any arts-based therapeutic initiative. He asserts, “Family problems are created and maintained in part
because of a lack of creative problem-solving abilities….techniques such as family sculpturing, family
art therapy, puppetry, family drawings, psychodrama and certain Gestalt interventions are all applied in
order to free family members to experience each other and life more creatively and personally” (Carson,
1999, p. 327).

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Carson also posits, “The use of techniques that allow clients to create and express themselves in non-
verbal ways are often less threatening and can facilitate an understanding of clients’ strengths as well as
their weaknesses and conflicts” (Carson, 1999, p. 328). The idea of using non-verbal means of creation
and expression is a core tenet in the field of art therapy (Rubin, 2010; Unger, 1995).

PRACTICING CREATIVITY AND OVERCOMING BARRIERS

Despite a more colloquial view that it remains the domain of a select few who are gifted or accomplished
in their creative endeavors, creativity is often a skill that has to be practiced. This is one of the major
barriers to creative development and pursuit. Creativity is often confused with concepts like talent or
skill. Talent suggests that creativity is not something that belongs to all people and skill is simply the
result of creative practice and familiarity (Tharp, 2003).
Creativity can manifest in many ways. While some people show a propensity for creative expres-
sion, all people have a capacity for creative expression. Honing these skills means engaging in creative
practice. Engaging in creative practice means placing some value on the principles of creativity, which
at times can yield great results or products, and sometimes is simply an exercise in exercise (Milner,
2010; Tharp, 2003).
Clients may mistakenly think that they must be creative or even more specifically artistic, to engage
successfully in art therapy. This could not be further from the truth. Art therapy operates on the assump-
tion that all people are creative. In some cases, people may have repressed a creative part of themselves
or lack healthy outlets for creativity. In some clients, creativity is blocked, a temporary state that seems
to render creative action inaccessible on demand (Milner, 2010).
Artists and writers often describe having creative blockages in their work. Sometimes, they recount
the ways in which emotions and inner psychic phenomena may help or hinder flow. Marion Milner (2010)
and Twyla Tharp (2003) both eloquently describe the powerful effects of creative blocks and also the
benefit of building habits to foster creativity, so as to not be overly susceptible to changing moods and
tides in life.
There are many ways to develop creativity (Karwowski & Soszynski, 2008). Engaging frequently in
creative endeavors or practice is a major benefit of therapy. In fact so much of therapy can be understood
as the chance to engage in the dress rehearsal that real life does not provide. Skills developed in therapy
may range from effective confrontation, socialization, risk taking, new habit formation, and engaging
one’s creative thinking (Craft, 2008).
The value of creativity has shifted and increased in recent years. Creativity is used in all aspects of our
world and is considered a desired skill. It is promoted as a way to problem-solve to make environments
more effective and to improve and modernize the world (Craft, 2008; Karwowski & Soszynski, 2008).
Nurturing creativity is both possible and valuable. There is a perceived value to creativity, whether
it directly produces a product or is domain free (creativity for the sake of creativity, even if it is not tied
to a specific outcome). Creativity as a skill can affect and/or benefit a person in multiple settings, and
those benefits could be professional, social, interpersonal, or intrapersonal. There has been a shifting
paradigm in the value of creativity, and in the emphasis of domain-free creativity (Craft, 2008).
Attachment issues, such as a fear of commitment, can contribute to a difficulty engaging in therapy.
A client can address these issues in art therapy by engaging their creativity, as part of their larger con-
nectedness with others and the world. While art making can result in a creative product, art therapy

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places more emphasis on the unending creative process rather than on the temporal nature of a product.
“Creativity is an inner experience of aliveness, of connectedness with life, of power and exuberance”
(Tuzman, 1996). A lack of creativity is pushing part of ourselves away, engenders doubt and feelings of
being incapable and inadequate. This is a valid reason to pursue, to harness and to develop creativity.
“The more we recognize creativity in ourselves, in nature, [and] throughout our world, the more we can
welcome its flow in our lives…our inner creativity itself starts leading us into new forms of discovery
and expression” (Tuzman, 1996).
Despite the value of creativity, blocked or denied creative force can be so strong that frequently
clients might turn to art therapists to attain approval from a creative professional. Art therapists can
offer their clients’ a sort of creative permission or the opportunity to feel sanctioned in taking risks and
engaging in artistic exploration. Encouragement from a perceived authority figure may give a person
creative license to engage. Therapy is an alliance between the therapist and client, whereby the therapist
and client combine resources to help generate a new plan. In art therapy that plan includes how to use
creative energy to help move a client past his/her obstacles (Rubin, 2010).

PRINCIPLES OF CREATIVITY IN THERAPY

Therapy and the journey to awaken and engage creativity in therapy, may progress through various
stages or phases. Stages might include preparation, concentration, incubation, ideation, and illumination.
Other stages may include verification, elaboration, and production. These are stages of creativity that
are explored in various professional fields, but could be visible or useful in understanding the creative
process that a client embarks on as he/she engages in the therapeutic process. These stages may be non-
linear (Carson, 1999).
Permission in art therapy means helping a client to work past misconceptions that creativity is only
for some people, inspiring the client to engage creatively, and allowing for art making, free of censor-
ship (Henley, 1999; Unger, 1995). Since there is no right or wrong way to be creative in art, the poten-
tial for benefit is reason enough to engage a client’s creative abilities (Unger, 1995). There are some
circumstances in which increasing the creative abilities in clients is a reasonable and appropriate goal.
Creativity in therapy is important, in part because the uncertainty in the world demands inventiveness and
strategic skill (Carson, 1999). A client called Ariana was able to combat her eating disordered behavior
by metaphorically creating art that centered on the theme of “filling up” with healthy expressive and
creative outlets. A client called Peter was able to work productively with his own aggressive tendencies
through his investigation into the history of war and his fascination with medieval weaponry. Another
client, Candace, was able to process memories of trauma and her hopes for recovery through drawings
and paintings of caged and flying birds. Candace explored her memories of feeling trapped and depicted
herself repeatedly as beautiful birds whose wings could not be clipped.
Divergent thinking is a central tenet of creativity and is associated in the therapeutic realm with cop-
ing skills, something that therapists help clients to fortify (Carson, 1999). Divergent thinking includes
fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. People with strong divergent thinking skills are oriented
towards possibilities and the development of potential outcomes, more than data that points towards spe-
cific conclusions (Carson, 1999). Other markers of divergent thinking include the ability to hold multiple
contradictory ideas simultaneously, resistance to premature judgment, and the ability to incorporate new
ideas into established perspectives (Carson, 1999). Increasing divergent thinking skills may be integral

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to breaking unhealthy patterns of behavior and perception. It allows the individual to consider options
and possible outcomes (Carson, 1999). In other words, increasing creativity helps people to be open to
constructive change.

CREATIVE EXERCISES

Creativity can be practiced in a variety of ways. For some people, repetition of creative practice may be
the most effective way to increase creativity. Frequency and quality of creative activity may also play a
role in greater accessibility to creativity. The following exercises were developed from art therapy direc-
tives and can be employed by individuals seeking creative practice through art making.

Scribble Drawings

Scribble drawings allow for an approach that combats common defensive arguments such as, “I’m not
an artist,” “I don’t know how to…”, and “I’m not sure what to draw”. Scribbling as a technique can be
freeing. Art that invokes scribbles can be celebrated as a beautiful and unique product, or can be appre-
ciated as an energy release that places value on the process. Drawing without intention or direction can
alleviate the pressures brought on by high expectations. This art form can be particularly liberating for
those without formal art training, with low self-esteem, with a pervasive fear of failure or with difficulty
in knowing how and where to start when engaging in the creative process through art making (Hanes,
1995; McNamee, 2004; Steinhardt, 2006; Ziegler, 1976).
One client whom I will call Allison created a time-limited scribble on large drawing paper in an art
therapy session. Allison was asked to develop her scribble into an image. “I don’t know what to make,”
she told me. I suggested that she look at the scribble until her eye saw an image. Similar to exercises
like seeking pictures in fluffy clouds or coffee foam, this directive contains an element of projection.
Allison turned her scribble paper in various directions and orientations to better see possibilities in it.
At my suggestion, she walked away and viewed the scribble from a 20 foot distance and then pushed her
face up close to the paper. “I don’t like what I see,” she explained. She did not want to draw the clown
that she could first envision; it felt like subject matter that could not support her seriousness of purpose.
In this way, Allison exercised her free will in this projective assignment. While her scribble seemed
random and accidental, the decision to develop a certain image from a scribble requires some intention.
Understanding what clients choose to develop and why, and what they avoid drawing can provide unique
insight into their state of mind.

Tree/Animal Drawings

Directives that invite artists to imagine and create themselves as an animal or tree ask the artist to
distill themselves down to key life elements and basic needs. I frequently ask students and clients to
draw themselves as an animal. This enables them to create an alter ego out of a real or imagined ani-
mal, and to project aspects of themselves onto it. This directive shares some associations with the long
established art directive of drawing a tree (Gunnarsson & Eklund, 2009; Isaksson, Norlen, Englund &
Lindqvist, 2009). Both concepts encourage the artist to create a living being and to make decisions on
behalf of that living being. These decisions often reflect the choices that people would like to make for

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themselves. In this way, a creative directive can help people to learn or affirm things about themselves.
This process can make it easier for people to identify aspects of themselves that they like and to learn
to live with themselves.
“Brittany” created herself as an animal that was a caged pet. While this was not a literal representation
of her life circumstance, she gained insight into her timidity and decided she wanted to become more
assertive. Another client, Sam, became a fantasy animal on which she projected mythical powers that
foretold how restricted she felt in her real life.

Bridge Drawings

Whether it spans water, roadways, or nature, a bridge still functions in the same way. It is a structural
connector between two or more points. Both the largest suspension bridge and the tiniest footbridge are
inherently transitions between two points. A connector can serve as a metaphor for a transitional phase.
So many experiences in life can be reframed and examined through the lens of transitions. Whether they
are long or short, transitions connect who we used to be with who we will become. Artists might look
at the transition as a point in time or a larger journey. Defining a bridge as a transitional part of one’s
life and then artistically rendering that bridge, and placing oneself somewhere on that bridge can be a
powerful and enlightening exercise.
In one art therapy group, three different clients all depicted themselves at the center point of their
bridge, but each was representing a different relationship with the journey. Karen was a tiny figure
dwarfed by an immense span of a bridge both in front of and behind her. Her figure gazed out blankly
across the open body of water seeming lost. In fact, Karen noted that she didn’t know which direction
on the bridge was forward and which was back; she said that she felt lost and overwhelmed. In contrast
to Karen, another client, Kate, positioned herself at the center of a small footbridge. Her figure was
smiling and seated on the side of the bridge, dangling her feet into a cool stream and watching ripples
rise and fall. Kate described that she was appreciating the journey and pausing to reflect. Still another
client, Amber, was swinging from the suspension wires in a death-defying but exciting stunt. Amber
identified that she wants to take a large bite out of the apple of life, and to push herself beyond limits.
Each client was positioned in the center of her own bridge, but with dramatically different meanings,
reflecting personal experiences and attitudes.

Superhero

Inviting artists to explore their superhero alter ego is an opportunity to better understand their own
strengths and vulnerabilities. Superheroes have a long tradition in popular culture, and they come with
their own back stories, including how they developed their super powers. Most superheroes align with
either good or evil but also have moral dilemmas, complicated traumas and intense purposes that drive
them onwards. Superheroes often have special super powers which an artist can choose for himself and
may reveal information about wishes, dreams, or parts of the self that requires growth.
A serious young client, called Thomas, was so out of touch with the concept of pretend that he as-
signed his superhero powers that comprised real world activities: cleaning up the house, minding his
younger brother and not upsetting mom. Through a discussion of his superhero tasks, Thomas was able
to contextualize them in his life, and to begin to engage in fantasy. A goal of his art therapy was to help
Thomas learn to dream and play. A different client, Peter, discussed his super power of protecting his

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younger siblings, which led to an admission of the need for protection from the mother’s fiancé. In this
case, the art was pivotal in helping to reveal a pattern of abuse in the home.

Body Drawing

There are many techniques in art therapy for creating body drawings, from small gender-neutral figurines
to life size full body tracings. Artists can often benefit from having a body on which to actualize mes-
sages felt by the artist’s body. Body drawings can be a means of revealing their own personal feelings
about physical or emotional experiences or about revealing body history including traumatic events. On
a simple body image, an artist can localize and acknowledge points of pain, sites of disease, or create
a body chronology of poignant moments and episodes. Emotions surrounding illness or other states of
being can be revealed. Body drawings give a platform to our often disembodied selves and create a place
where our emotional and physical states can be united. Body drawings give the artist the opportunity to
speculate about personal resistance and acknowledge what is in the body (Riley, 2004).

CONCLUSION

Art therapy helps clients to tap into inherent creative potential and to express inner phenomena by making
art. Expression in any form can feel risky, and creating art sometimes requires permission and practice.
Art therapists can help clients to feel a sense of trust, empowerment and permission as they explore inner
worlds through art. Creativity in art therapy can have productive and lasting effects. While all people
have the potential to create art, it is not uncommon to become inhibited in our expression. Art therapy
is a vehicle to help liberate individuals striving to access creative possibility.

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ADDITIONAL READING

Ayan, J. (1997). Aha! 10 ways to free your creative spirit and find your great ideas. New York, NY:
Three Rivers Press.
Cameron, J. (2002). The artist’s way: A spiritual path to higher creativity. New York, NY: J.P. Tarcher/
Putnam.
Diaz, A. (1992). Freeing the creative spirit: Drawing on the power of art to tape the magic and wisdom
within. San Francisco, CA: Harper.
Tharp, T. (2003). The creative habit: Learn it and use it for life. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Von Oech, R. (1998). A whack on the side of the head: How you can be more creative. New York, NY:
Time Warner Book Group.

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